What Kind Of Meat Does Wendy's Use For Its Breakfast Baconator?

The original Wendy's Baconator came out in 2007, but its beloved breakfast counterpart, the Breakfast Baconator, didn't appear on menus until 2020. Aside from the familiar presence of a soft bun, fresh-cracked egg, sliced American cheese, and Swiss cheese sauce, you might be wondering what kind of meat Wendy's serves on this iconic breakfast pick, because it isn't beef. Wendy's actually puts two different types of meat on its Breakfast Baconator: slices of Applewood smoked bacon, of course, and a grilled sausage patty. 

While some fast food restaurants use fake protein and eggs on their sandwiches for the sake of convenience, Wendy's is one of the fast food chains that uses real eggs and meat. The cured bacon used on this sandwich is flavored with salt, smoke flavoring, sugar, and sodium preservatives. The sausage, on the other hand, is made up of pork, spices, salt, sugar, and dextrose. 

On its website, Wendy's warns customers that employees grill the Breakfast Baconator's sausage patty on the same surface as ingredients containing soy and milk, so it may not be safe for those with allergies to these products. If you're not in that group, enjoy this iconic breakfast item to your heart's content. With multiple slices of cheese and bacon, the sandwich comes in at a whopping 710 calories. It's a beast of a breakfast. Wendy's does not serve the Breakfast Baconator all day, though, so get it while it's hot sometime before the switch over to lunch. 

All the ingredients in the Breakfast Baconator aside, let's dive into how the sausage is made, specifically the source of the pork. Wendy's claims to purchase only 100% quality-assured, certified pork, or the equivalent for its sausage and bacon. The pork used for the bacon and sausage comes from pigs housed in open pens or group housing. This was a goal set by Wendy's in 2012 in an effort to break away from sow gestation stalls, which are small, individual pens. The fast food chain achieved its aims in 2022. Additionally, Wendy's is also on a journey to decrease its antibiotic use in its pork supply chains, and hopes to source 100% of its protein (beef, chicken, and pork) from antibiotic-free suppliers by 2030. 

The first supplier of Wendy's bacon when it started serving this protein back in 1982 was Sugardale Foods. The brand has since provided Wendy's with its fresh pork. Still, the chain also recently spoke about its collaboration with farms like Hord Family Farms, which supplies pigs to the Clemens Food Group's pork processing plant to make the chain's bacon. While we're not sure about the exact current supplier of Wendy's sausage and bacon, we are sure about Wendy's commitment to quality-assured pork. For more insight on iconic fast food sandwiches, learn about the cut of meat McDonald's uses for its McRib.